MELBOURNE CUP ~ The Horse Race That Stops A Nation MELBOURNE CUP ~ The Horse Race That Stops A Nation Anton K 2 Comments The 1976 Melbourne Cup trophy won by Van der Hum (NZ) ridden by Bob Skelton (Photo by Moriori’s Son) The MELBOURNE CUP also known as The race that stops a nation, is Australia’s major Thoroughbred horse race, held annually on the 1st Tuesday of November since the 1800s. The 3,200 metre race for 3 year old horses is the richest 2 mile handicap in the world, and also one of the richest turf races. The race event is all conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Melbourne Cup race starts at 3pm (daylight saving time) the first Tuesday in November. official website for the Melbourne Cup ~ November 2012 The Melbourne Cup race started in 1861, and was originally held over 2 miles (about 3,218 metres).

In 1972 the current race distance of 3,200 metres was established due to Australia’s adoption of the metric system . The 1881 Melbourne Cup finish line (Art engraving by “S.B.” published in the Illustrated Australian News in November 1881) 2013 ~ FiORENTE the Thoroughbred racehorse bred in Ireland ridden by Damien Oliver won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday 5th November 2012, trained by Gai Waterhouse . In the 2012 Melbourne Cup Fiorente ran 2nd to Green Moon . 2012 ~ GREEN MOON the bay stallion thoroughbred racehorse ridden by Brett Prebble won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday 6th November 2012, trained by Robert Hickmott. Green Moon was originally intended to be ridden in the cup by Damien Oliver , who was dropped by the owner, Lloyd Williams, after being accused of illegal betting.

featuring Green Moon winning the 2012 Melbourne Cup ridden by Brett Prebble The Green Moon Melbourne Cup page on MCUP.com.au 2011 ~ DUNADEN the bay stallion thoroughbred racehorse ridden by Christophe Lemaire won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday 1st November 2011. Dunaden was trained by Mikel Delzangles. He was the 1st horse to win the Hong Kong Vase (11 December 2011) after winning the Melbourne Cup. Dunaden was originally purchased for €1,500 as a foal at a sale in France in 2006, and sold to Pearl Bloodstock Pty (Mgr. R Levitt) in 2010 for about $200,000., and won $3.3 million at the 2011 Melbourne Cup. Dunaden beat Red Cadeaux in the closest photo-finish ever in the Melbourne Cup.

Dunaden & Red Cadeaux in the closest ever photo finish in Melbourne Cup ~ Tuesday 1st November 2011 2011 Emirates Melbourne Cup video… Dunaden, the 1st horse to win the Hong Kong Vase after winning the Melbourne Cup (2011 Photo by Flamelai ) 2010 ~ Americain 2009 ~ SHOCKiNG the bay stallion thoroughbred racehorse ridden by Corey Brown won the 149th Melbourne Cup on Tuesday 3rd November 2009. Shocking was trained by Mark Kavanagh. 2008 ~ Viewed 2007 ~ EFFiCiENT the grey gelding thoroughbred racehorse ridden by Michael Rodd won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday 6th November 2007. Efficient was trained by Graeme Rogerson. 1951 ~ DELTA won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday the 6th November 1951. ~ 1956 ~ EVENiNG PEAL the mare ridden by George Podmore won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday 6th November 1956, trained by E. D. Lawson.

Evening Peal was the 1st mare to win the Melbourne Cup since Rainbird won in 1945, and was the 1st horse to have an Oaks-Cup double victory in successive years. ~ 1945 ~ RAiNBiRD won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday the 6th November 1945. See the original film footage of the 1945 Melbourne Cup . ~ 1934 ~ PETER PAN won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday the 6th November 1934. ~ 1930 ~ PHAR LAP won the Melbourne Cup on the 4th November 1930 with jockey Jim Pike. Phar Lap was the only horse to be given legend status by the Australian Racing Hall of Fame. He holds the record for the shortest priced favourite in the Melbourne Cup. During the 1930 Melbourne Cup, bookmakers realised they would lose a fortune if Phar Lap was to win, and incidentally, he was shot at by gangsters on that day. Tommy Woodcock saved Phar Lap by placing himself and his pony between the shot.The Melbourne Cup prize money was £12,429.

Phar Lap, the 1930 Melbourne Cup champion winner, with jockey Jim Pike at Flemington race track (1930 Photo by Charles Daniel Pratt) Phar Lap winning the Melbourne Cup on the 4th November 1930 (Argus news photo) ~ 1928 ~ STATESMAN won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday the 6th November 1928. ~ 1923 ~ BiTALLi won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday the 6th November 1923. ~ 1917 ~ WESTCOURT won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday the 6th November 1917 ~ 1906 ~ POSEiDON won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday the 6th November 1906. ~ 1900 ~ CLEAN SWEEP won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday the 6th November 1900. ~ 1890 ~ CARBiNE won the Melbourne Cup on the 4th November 1873 with jockey R. Ramage. Carbine came from New Zealand and was a direct descendant of Phar Lap.

He competed carrying the weight record of 65.77kg, beating 38 other runners. The Melbourne Cup prize money was £13,230. ~ 1877 ~ CHESTER won the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday the 6th November 1877. This was the first time the Melbourne Cup was held on a Tuesday, from which it was then held traditionally on the first Tuesday of November to current time. ~ 1861 ~ ARCHER the Australian Thoroughbred racehorse won the 1st Melbourne Cup on the 7th November 1861. Like this?.. please share this: The Race That Stops a Nation | HorseRacing.com The Race That Stops a Nation Submitted by Michael Richards on October 26, 2010 It’s nearly here again, this year for the 150th time, arguably the greatest horse race in the world. Yes, the Melbourne Cup is just a few days away. There’s nothing quite like it anywhere else in the world, where racing for one day totally dominates a nation’s thoughts and habits.

People stop work, or don’t go to work at all, but go to thousands of organised parties, and even plan holidays around the race. Here in Britain we have Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood, the Epsom Derby meeting, even Champions’ Day at Newmarket (for the last time this year), and the Grand National at Aintree, but none of these begin to compete with the Melbourne Cup in drawing a whole nation’s attention to a horse race. So why is it such a success and can British racing learn anything from it? After becoming the first European winner of the race in 1993, on the Dermot Weld trained Vintage Crop, thus establishing the race’s international credentials, jockey Mick Kinane, no stranger to global success, said of the race, “It gets as much hype as the Derby and Arc put together and though I never dreamt as a child of winning the race, like I did the Derby, I’d recommend it to anyone!” The race, part of the four day Flemington festival, is run on the first Tuesday in November, not, note, at the weekend. It has always attracted huge crowds to the racecourse.

Even in the dark days of the Depression, in 1930, 80,000 people paid at the gate to see the great Phar Lap, and another 40,000, who couldn’t afford to, cheered from the rooftops in neighbouring downtown Melbourne. Today, numbers on the course on Cup day are limited to a ‘modest’ 120,000 spectators, based on pre-booked tickets, to ensure, as the Chairman of the Victoria Racing Club put it, ‘a comfortable racegoer experience’. The 67,000 people who crowded into Cheltenham racecourse on Gold Cup day this year might have thought that, though much fewer in number, their ‘comfortable racegoer experience’ was a little lacking, compared with those at the Melbourne Cup. Two aspects of the Melbourne Cup might seem a little strange for a race that has so much prestige. Firstly, it isn’t a classic; it’s not even run over a classic distance, but over a long bursting 2 miles, a long way for a flat race. It’s a demanding race; winners need speed, stamina and guts.

But secondly it mocks breeding and future breeding potential because it’s a handicap and just about any of the runners can win it. In the history of the race the difference between weight carried by the top and bottom of the handicap has sometimes been as much as 56 lbs. But despite being a handicap the race has been a magnet for great horses, some achieving prodigious weight carrying feats. Potrel won it carrying 10st 0lbs (63.6 kgs), Archer triumphed with 10st 2lb (64.5 kgs), and the great Carbine humped 10st 5lbs (66. kgs) to victory. British racing has had many equine heroes in recent times: Nijinksky, Mill Reef, Brigadier Gerard, amongst others, but none were asked to carry huge weights in handicaps and none were taken to the nation’s heart as were the heroes of the Melbourne Cup. The great Australian icon Phar Lap reflects this. He ran in the race three times, each time starting favourite.

At his second attempt he won it convincingly carrying the welter burden of 9st 12lbs (62.7 kgs), and remains the only horse to have won the Melbourne Cup at odds on. The following year he was asked to shoulder the crucifying burden of 10st 10lbs (68.2kgs) and not surprisingly, could only finish 8th, beaten by a horse carrying a mere 6st 12lbs (43.6 kgs). But his career, mixing stakes and weight for age races, with handicaps shows how great horses can draw crowds and excite wide interest. Phar Lap was a legend even before his defeat that year. He had won the prestigious Futurity Stakes at Caulfield over an inadequate 7 furlong carrying a massive 10st 3lbs (65 kgs), despite having been left 40 lengths at the start. Before that, he had drawn a crowd of 78,000, much larger than expected, to Randwick, to see him win the AJC Derby. But his abilities were evident in all his racecourse performances.

He won all the great weight for age races at Randwick, Rosehill, Caulfield, Flemington, Moonee Valley, plus the coveted Kings Cup at Morphetville. He won over distances of 7 furlongs to 2 miles, but, in the midst of this, ran in, and won, handicaps, and became a national hero. But perhaps his greatest achievement is still seen to be that victory in the Melbourne Cup. One writer in the now defunct Australian Sportsman put it in a way that captures the lure of the Melbourne Cup: “Those who had the good fortune to be there on that Tuesday can never forget it. It stirred the very soul. Such moments are worth living for, and worth remembering.” The Melbourne Cup is, despite being a handicap, the two mile championship of the world. Great horses have carried big weights in the race and won it. It has thrown up great feats of equine courage which the classics in Britain rarely do. But in Britain, the top class horses simply do not run in handicaps.

As things stand we will never see the likes of Phar Lap running in the Cambridgeshire or the Cesarawitch, both of which he would have been capable of winning, even under a welter burden. Handicaps simply don’t carry the prestige or the prize money of many weight for age races or the classics. But they could, and with careful thought, as limited handicaps, become a vehicle to allow horses to demonstrate tenacity, courage and greatness in ways which would only enhance their value. British racing isn’t in crisis, but it is certainly contemplating its future. At the very least racing in Britain needs to be more attractive to very many more people than it is at present. Gone are the days when over a quarter of a million people gathered on Epsom Downs to watch the Derby. Will we ever see the likes of this on a racecourse again, and will we ever produce equine heroes who can capture a nation’s imagination?

The major stakeholders in the future of British racing could do worse than reflect on the success of the Melbourne Cup over the last century and a half, and ask: What makes it so successful as a horse race, but also something that has become a national event, and how could British racing achieve something comparable? Article written by Michael Richards. Melbourne Cup - The Race that Stops the Nation in its Tracks | The Culture Concept Circle Than the race that’s run at Flemington The race that stops the nation!* Australians celebrate the Melbourne Cup horse race in many different ways with workplace fashion parades, cup business breakfasts, ladies leisure lunches, hat and costume competitions, school dress-ups, live music performances at local race carnivals, by having pony parties, river cruises, pool parties and barbecues. *The Race That Stops The Nation is a poem about Australia’s fascination with the Melbourne Cup penned by writer Vivienne McCredie in 1986.

Makybe Diva won the race 3 times in 2003, 2004 and 2005, a feat no other horse had achieved It was read out on an evening poetry radio program run by Australian author, journalist and radio personality Kel Richards at the time and later published. Copies are in the State Library of NSW and the National Library of Australia . Since then its title has gradually become part of Australian colloquialism, in reference to the Melbourne Cup , a horse race held on the first Tuesday in November at Melbourne in the state of Victoria. This annual event enables the city of Melbourne to outperform its east coast rival Sydney, in both the fashionable and thoroughbred stakes. Melbourne is the only city in Australia and perhaps in the world, which gives its citizens a public holiday for a horse race. It doesn’t happen in country Victoria, just in the city and, it has been happening since 1876. People come from all around Australia, New Zealand, and Internationally to participate in, or view this now famous event. At around 3 pm (AEDST) the Melbourne Cup is televised to over 700 million people in more than 120 countries.

Many millions listen to the race on the radio or watch it live on the Internet. If you are out and about in Melbourne city at 3pm on the first Tuesday in November you can be forgiven for thinking the world has come to an end, if only for a few minutes. It is hard to explain to other cultures how embedded into Australian life and culture the Melbourne Cup has become over its 150+ years. It is an integral aspect of its folklore, a celebration that reminds Australians about the good life they all share, especially when they pull together like our early Australian pioneers. The big race was introduced in 1861 and the first winner was Archer. To show that his victory wasn’t a fluke he won again in 1862. Many fine thoroughbred horses have won the cup since, including the Great Depression heroes New Zealand born stayer Phar Lap and Australian born stayer Peter Pan. Both enjoyed the benefits of being ridden by legendary jockey Jim Pike, who could coax a ‘tremendous effort from a horse through his masterly control and rare balance’. Brisels and Jockey Peter St.

Albans Phar Lap won in 1930, and despite coming from New Zealand was nicknamed ‘Australia’s wonder horse’. When he was poisoned in America where he had gone to show off his form, the whole of Australia mourned his passing. Peter Pan became a household name when he won twice in 1932 and 1934. Some consider he was greater than Phar Lap and he was universally admired for his beautiful chestnut coat and flashy silver mane. The most intriguing winner of the cup would surely be Brisels who won in 1876. In six days this plucky horse, which is now regarded as one of the greatest mares ever foaled in Australia won the trio of the Derby, the Melbourne Cup and The Oaks Handicap. To achieve this she was piloted by a slight slip of boy, who was recorded as being thirteen years of age (he was actually twelve, being 8 days short of his thirteenth birthday). To this day Peter St. Albans remains the youngest jockey ever to have won a Melbourne Cup. He also had the most mysterious stories spun around him that are probably apocryphal.

However it will take a long time to find another horse to compare with the British bred Australian trained mare Makybe Diva. She won the race three times in 2003, 2004 and 2005, a feat no other horse had achieved before, or since. The race is for three-year-olds and over, and covers a distance of 3,200 metres. It is generally regarded as the most prestigious ‘two-mile’ handicap in the world and is run anticlockwise around the picturesque Flemington racecourse. The first Melbourne Cup was the brainchild of a member of the committee of The Victorian Turf Club. 17 horses contested the inaugural event winning £170 cash and were awarded a hand-beaten gold watch. Elements of the media at the time were disparaging. ‘Its effect would be to make any brumby bought out of a mob for 30 shillings the equal of the finest horse in the land. It is a mad idea, doomed to failure.’ They reported. By its third year the race was in a very sorry state with only seven starters.

However, a merger between the Victoria Turf Club and Victoria Jockey Club founded the Victoria Racing Club and by 1864 the race’s fortunes were on the rise. In 1875 the race was run for the first time on a Tuesday. Carnival crowds treated the event as if it were a day off. This came to fruition in 1877 when Melbourne Cup Day was officially declared a public holiday for Melbourne city. The template for its success has changed little in the 150+ years since. Over that period it has impressed many visitors to write about it. None more so than perhaps that great American author and humourist Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain (1835 – 1910). He recorded his impressions about Melbourne and that race in Chapter 16 of his book about his journey around the world “Following the Equator”, which was published in 1897.

It’s a description repeated below that’s hard to deny… ‘Melbourne … is a stately city; it has museums, and colleges, and schools, and public gardens, and electricity, and gas, and libraries, and theatres, and mining centres, and wool centres, and centres of the arts and sciences, and boards of trade, and ships, and railroads, and a harbour, and social clubs, and journalistic clubs, and racing clubs, and a squatter club, sumptuously housed and appointed, and as many churches and banks as can make a living. In a word, it is equipped with everything that goes to make a modern great city. It … has one specialty… on the first Tuesday in November… business is suspended … and every man and woman, of high degree or low, who can afford the expense, put away their other duties and come. They… swarm in …a fortnight before the day, and they swarm thicker and thicker day after day, until all the vehicles of transportation are taxed to their uttermost to meet the demands of the occasion, and all hotels and lodgings are bulging outward because of the pressure from within.

They come a hundred thousand strong, as all the best authorities say, and they pack the spacious grounds and grandstands and make a spectacle such as is never to be seen in Australasia elsewhere… The grandstands make a brilliant and wonderful spectacle, a delirium of colour, and a vision of beauty. The champagne flows, everybody is vivacious, excited, and happy; everybody bets, and gloves and fortunes change hands right along, all the time. Day after day the races go on, and the fun and the excitement are kept at white heat; and when each day is done, the people dance all night so as to be fresh for the race in the morning. And at the end of the great week the swarms secure lodgings and transportation for next year, then flock away to their remote homes and count their gains and losses, and order next year’s Cup-clothes, and then lie down and sleep two weeks, and get up sorry to reflect that a whole year must be put in somehow or other before they can be wholly happy again. The Melbourne Cup is the Australasian National Day. It would be difficult to overstate its importance. It overshadows all other holidays and specialized days of whatever sort in that congeries of colonies.

Overshadows them? I might almost say it blots them out.’ The VRC’s Fashions on the Field was instigated in 1962, following initiatives implemented by a VRC sub-committee set up in 1960 to promote the Centenary Melbourne Cup. In 2012 it celebrated its anniversary of 50 years of fashion and fun. The competition was launched with the objective of ‘finding the smartest dressed women at the Carnival within economic restraints’. Since then the fashion follies of the fillies on the field have captured the imagination of the public and the event has grown rapidly in popularity. Little did the committee realize that its marketing initiative would change the nature of racing forever and that fillies and fellas would be vying for as many awards as the horses. The Melbourne Cup, 1881 The Melbourne Cup is the race that stops a nation well and truly in its tracks. The annual celebration is upon us, and the countdown to the race underway. Hope you back the winner or draw it in that quintessential Aussie office event, the Sweep.

Carolyn McDowall, 2011 – 2014, The Culture Concept Circle *Verses from The Race That Stops The Nation ©Vivienne McCredie 1986 reproduced with permission Melbourne Cup Day in Australia Home Calendar Holidays Australia Melbourne Cup Day Melbourne Cup Day in Australia Melbourne Cup Day is Australia’s best known horse racing event held on the first Tuesday of November every year. It is an annual public holiday in the state of Victoria. This event is popularly dubbed as “the race that stops the nation”. Melbourne Cup Day centers on horse racing. Melbourne Cup Day centers on horse racing. ©iStockphoto.com/christine balderas Celebrate Melbourne Cup Day Melbourne Cup Day is one of Australia’s most popular social and racing events. The main racing event takes place at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria. More than 100,000 people usually attend Flemington Racecourse. Local races are held throughout the country on this day and when the main race of the day occurs at the Flemington Racecourse it is televised on screens at race tracks across Australia. The race is televised live to an audience of about 650 million people worldwide.

Many people stop what they are doing shortly before 3pm on Melbourne Cup Day to watch or listen to the main race either via television, Internet or the radio. At the races, people dress up – many women wear their best or most colorful hats and dresses, with some participating in fashion parades on the field. Marquees are set up for VIP guests, including local, national and international celebrities who attend this festive event. Champagne, wine and gourmet finger foods are usually served on this day. Many offices across the Australia stop work closer to the time of the main race to celebrate the event. Activities include office parties that feature hat and dress competitions, staff lunches at restaurants and afternoon teas where a television is available so workers can watch the main race. Bets are made on this day – even those who usually do not bet try their luck with a small wager or entry into a sweep, which is a lottery in which each ticket holder is matched with a randomly drawn horse. There are some Australians who deem horse racing as a cruel sport and have been vocal in their protests over the years. Public Life Melbourne Cup Day is a public holiday in Melbourne so many people have the day off work.

Other towns and cities in Victoria can have a public holiday or 2 half-day public holidays in lieu of Melbourne Cup Day. For example, the town of Wodonga, in northern Victoria, celebrates Wodonga Gold Cup Day, on the last Friday of November. Although it is a legal holiday in only Victoria, it is observed in many towns and cities so there may be traffic congestion near race tracks in urban areas and parking may be difficult to find in these areas. About Melbourne Cup Day Melbourne Cup Day has been observed in Australia since the first race was held at the Flemington Racecourse in Victoria in 1861. The race was won by Archer, who won it again the following year. The event features races, including the handicap race which is run by about 20 thoroughbreds for a couple million Australian dollars. The story of Phar Lap, a legendary New Zealand thoroughbred who won the Melbourne Cup in 1930 and was nicknamed “Australia's wonder horse”, was made into a movie. Some people believe he was poisoned when he died. The first Tuesday in November, Melbourne Cup Day, was officially gazetted a full public holiday in 1877 in Melbourne.

While all of Melbourne's 31 metropolitan councils celebrated the first Tuesday in November, there was a gap where some regional councils had not selected an 11th public holiday. Therefore, in 2008 the Victorian Parliament passed a new legislation that saw Melbourne Cup Day as a public holiday for all council areas in the state except those where other holidays have been designated. This means that Melbourne Cup Day is now officially a public holiday throughout the state. There are similar races throughout Australia, as horse racing is popular, but Melbourne Cup Day is still the number one horse racing event in the country. Melbourne Cup Day Observances The race that stops the nation, also killed this horse today. - Mamamia The race that stops the nation, also killed this horse today. It’s the ‘event that stops a nation’. Workplaces crack out the champers at 3pm; productivity comes to a standstill. And that’s for the staff who even bother to show up – more sickies are chucked on Melbourne Cup Day than any other throughout the year. The Melbourne Cup: arguably Australia’s biggest annual sporting event. There’s glitz, and glamour, gorgeous dresses, sparkly jewelry and good wines.

There’s also the grim reality: The lives of the horses. Or more specifically, the lives that are lost. Horse racing is not the standard vision of animal cruelty that many of us have been trained to recognise through RSPCA advertisements. There are no squalid kennels, or puppies choked by collars that are too small. The horses are well cared for. Their coats are glossy, their eyes are clear; their muscles ripple as they thunder down the track. They look like the epitome of perfect animal health. But once the race is over – once the horse no longer has a purpose – there is a darker side to the industry that the cameras aren’t around to film. Today, a horse running in the Melbourne Cup – who you would’ve watched barreling down the track, its coat slick with sweat – was euthanised after the race. The horse’s name was Verema. Verema dropped out of the race at about the halfway mark, and it said to have snapped a large bone in the lower leg. Victoria Racing Club stewards confirmed that the horse had been put down, shortly after the race. And Verema is not the only one to have had a less than noble retirement after competing in the Melbourne Cup.

The 33 knackeries across Australia will slaughter between 22-32,000 horses every year. 40 per cent of those horses, are racehorses. The Coalition for the Protection of racehorses estimates that 18,000 ex-racers are killed every year. Many horses are killed – and counted as ‘wastage’ – after injuring themselves during a race. When they break a leg at such speeds the bone can fracture into many pieces – making it almost impossible for a vet to adequately fix. If the vet cannot fix the break, it means the horse cannot race again; this makes the horse ‘uneconomic’ to keep around. Varema. (Image from Andrew Day on Twitter.) Activists have identified many other problems with horseracing. The thoroughbreds being trained to race are typically kept in stables where they receive little mental stimulation. Without room to move, they can develop ‘behaviours’ (like the sad elephants you see pacing backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards in the zoo) biting fences or even themselves repeatedly. The diet that racehorses are fed to enhance performance means that they are particularly susceptible to gastric ulcers.

During training and competitions, many horses suffer from fractured bones, dislocated joints, and torn ligaments and tendons. Exertion during races means that almost half of racehorses have suffered bleeding in their windpipe – and a University of Melbourne study found that 90 per cent bleed deeper in the lungs. And all this is without even mentioning the whips. Talking about the animal cruelty of horseracing – on Melbourne Cup Day no less – isn’t exactly a popular opinion. It might get you called a ‘killjoy’. Or ‘un-Australian’. And the people who participate in the industry resent the accusation most of all. So many of the people involved in horseracing – the trainers, the breeders, the jockeys – genuinely love horses. You can see it when they talk about their wins; you can even see it when they talk about their losses. You can see the love they have for the creatures. But that doesn’t change the fact that horseracing could be called animal cruelty . It can feel fruitless to complain , given that it seems unlikely that ‘the event that stops the nation’ will itself ever stop.

The Cup generates an audience of 700 million ever year, and creates over a billion dollars in taxes every year. But that doesn’t change that it could be called animal cruelty. There are so many things to love about Melbourne Cup Day. The chance to dress up. The fact that it’s the one time a year when you can wear a fascinator on the street, and nobody will judge you for your ostentatious sartorial choices. The fact that workplaces come together. The BBQs, the champagne, the thrill of participating in an office sweep and cheering whenever ‘your’ horse looks like it might pull to the front of the pack – even for a moment. But that doesn’t change the fact that in my book: horseracing is animal cruelty . Vale Verema. If you would like to learn more – or make a difference – please visit The Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses or visit Animals Australia and Pledge to Never Bet on Cruelty . Do you think horseracing counts as animal cruelty? Or do you think the Melbourne Cup is just a bit of fun? What do you think could be done to regulate the industry, to ensure that the lives of horses are saved?

Edited on 6.11.13 regarding number of racehorses killed each year. What do you think? The Race That Stops The Nation - A Poem for All Australians | The Culture Concept Circle Copies are held in the State Library of NSW and the National Library of Australia. Since then its title has gradually become part of contemporary Australian colloquialism, in reference to the Melbourne Cup, a horse race always held on the first Tuesday in November at Melbourne in the state of Victoria. This annual event is part of the VRC Melbourne Cup Carnival and enables the city of Melbourne to endeavour to outperform its east coast rival Sydney, in both the Spring fashionable and thoroughbred stakes. So far it seems to be out in front and staying well.

The Race That Stops a Nation by Vivienne McCredie But once a year at Flemington A horse race stops us all And we hold our breaths and listen To the commentator’s call For never has there been a race That holds such fascination Than the race they run at Flemington, The Race that stops the nation We Aussies are a funny lot, The things we hold so dear – Like Rosewall, Hoad, the Opera House, A glass of Fosters beer Let’s not forget the Great White Shark, And Lillee – in full flight, The Wallabies, the Kangaroos, The Harbour Bridge at Night, Of course it’s something special When we say the name of ‘DON’, Our Bradman was the best they’ve seen; His legend carries on On a Tuesday in November, The first one to be sure, As the winner flashes past the post, You’ll hear the thousands roar. For never has there been a race To catch imagination Than the race that’s run at Flemington The race that stops the nation! It’s called “the Cup” – the Melbourne Cup. Beginning naturally When a horse called Archer walked Into a place in history.

And since that year of ’61, We find no explanation As to why it is this two mile race is the one that stops the nation For down the years it’s history, How losers come and go – And horses who with bursting hearts Can make the legends grow The memories of champions The race at Flemington! Some names are so familiar It’s easy to recall – Like Rising Fast and Kiwi, and The greatest one of all for Phar Lap is synonymous With all that’s brave and bold – And little men can treasure all The stories that are told. When Phar Lap graced the turf, and won, We Aussies felt elation – We loved him, – so in death, he then Was mourned by all the nation. A century has been, and gone, And still the horses run, To the cheers and acclamation Down the straight at Flemington Now o’er the seas, on moors and downs Hooves pound in expectation, Through early morning mists that veil Their great determination. The best will come to challenge The antipodean horse In the gruelling race of two miles – On the famous Melbourne course. The ‘Might and Power’ of thundering hooves Defines a champion – Is shown to all the nation!

And once a year, that single race Creates the situation – Where we share all the nostalgia of The race that stops the nation Poem ‘The Race that Stops a Nation’ © Vivienne McCredie 1986, 2005-2014 The Race That Stops A Nation Melbourne Cup | Tuesday 7th November 2017 The Race That Stops A Nation On radio they were asking "was there any other city in the world that turned a horse race into a public holiday?" Melbourne did way back in 1861 and continues to, the race that stops a nation, and now the world... The Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Group 1, handicap horse race run over 3200 metres on the first Tuesday in November at 3.10pm. Cup Day is also the 'carnivale' centrepiece of the four race-days of Cup Week, with race goers taking a festive approach to the day. Just before the main race, the National Anthem is performed and for many Melburnian's, Melbourne Cup Day is the penultimate sporting day of the year.

Melbourne Cup History There's a story that an English couple who had just emigrated to Australia wondered why Melbourne was such a quiet city, because there seemed to be nobody on the streets. They had arrived during the running of the Cup. This is probably just a good yard, but there is some truth to it. Ever since the running of the first Cup, the race has been popular with the public. Melbourne gives itself a holiday on Cup Day (as hardly anyone is likely to turn up to work) and a strange, eerie quiet settles over the city while the race is being run. The Melbourne Cup is rare among famous horse races for being a handicap event. This means that the best horses must carry not only their jockey, but extra weight in the form of lead bars in their saddle bags. Horses with a lesser chance of winning carry only their jockey. This has always been part of the Cup's popularity because it means, in theory, every horse has an equal chance, so it's possible for an unknown horse with a lightweight jockey to streak past the post and beat the favourite. It sits well with our national philosophy of giving the "little Aussie Battler a "fair go".

Captain Frederick Charles Standish came to Australia as Assistant Commissioner to the goldfields in 1852. He later became Chief Commissioner of Police (1858 - 1880). It was thought Standish came up with the idea for a Melbourne Cup. If that's true then he was involved in three significant events in Australia's history: the Eureka Stockade, the first Melbourne Cup and the arrest of Ned Kelly. The first Melbourne Cup was run on a Thursday, not a Tuesday as it is now. In 1861, fifty seven entrants were reduced to seventeen starters. The horses waited for the starter to drop a flag, which was the signal to start racing. A fixed barrier, where horses line up at the start, was introduced in 1925. Today's "cage" system came later. No trophy was awarded for that first Cup. Etienne de Mestre was presented with a hand-beaten gold watch and a cheque for 930 pounds. The second and third placegetters received nothing. The following day, Archer won another race of over two miles, the Melbourne Town Plate.

Then in 1862 he returned to win a second Melbourne Cup, carrying 10 st 2 lb (64.4kg) but this time he was a short-priced favourite at 2-1. He again beat Mormon, by 10 lengths, in the faster time of 3 mins 47 secs. The record of the same two horses coming first and second two years in a row has never been broken. The record of the same horse winning two Cups in a row was unbroken until Rain Lover won in 1968 and 1969. In 2005 Makybe Diva broke the record by winning her third Melbourne Cup in a row (2003, 2004 and 2005). Who knows? If Archer had been allowed to run a third Cup, he might have made it three in a row. But then, he would have had to carry (with lead bars) a massive 11st 4lb (71kg). Thankfully horses no longer have to carry such weights and Makybe Diva carried only 58kgs. Victoria had separated from New South Wales in 1851.

The annual public holiday marking the event, Separation, or Secession Day, prevented Archer from running a third Melbourne Cup in 1863. When the telegram entering him arrived, the Victoria Turf Club's offices were closed for the holiday, so his application was rejected as "too late". Etienne de Mestre was understandably furious. He claimed it was "sour grapes" on the part of Melbourne and refused to attend. Other Sydney trainers boycotted the Cup in support, so that year only seven horses raced, all Victorian. Mediocre horse, Banker, won. When Archer was prevented from running a third Cup, de Mestre vowed never again to enter a horse in the race. He later relented, however, and won with Tim Whiffler in 1867, Chester in 1877, and Calamia in 1878. His record of five wins by one trainer was broken only by Bart Cummings with his amazing string of eleven Cups that started in 1965.

As a result of the tragic fall in the 1861 Cup, the Victoria Turf Club moved the starting post back to allow horses a straight run of four furlongs before they came to the sharp river turn. Horses that have won the Cup include 60 bays, 37 browns, 34 chestnuts, 5 greys, 5 bay/browns, 3 blacks and 2 brown/blacks. A horse named Old Rowley won the Cup in 1940. I 'borrowed" the name for the farm horse that Sam rides. Racehorses come from all over the world to race in the Cup. Overseas entrants travel by plane in luxurious quarters. It was far more risky taking them by ship to Melbourne. In September 1867, the City of Melbourne was hit by a gale, almost a cyclone, off Jervis Bay. On board were eleven racehorses traveling to the Cup; nine died. Five of those eleven horses had been trained by de Mestre. In 1972, the Melbourne Cup went metric. Before that it was measured in Imperial standards.

In Imperial measures, 3 feet equalled 1 yard, 220 yards equalled a furlong, and 8 furlongs equalled a mile. The Melbourne Cup was 2 miles (or 3520 yards) long. In metric terms, this equals 3218.7 metres. However, the modern Cup has been "rounded back" to 3200 metres, so it is now 18.7 metres shorter than the race Archer ran. Archer was foaled in 1856. He was a bay horse by William Tell out of Maid of Oaks. William Tell was sired by an English St Leger winner, Touchstone, out of Miss Bowe. Maid of Oaks was by Vagabond from a Zorab Mare. Touchstone was also an ancestor of the champion Carbine. Carbine won the Melbourne Cup of 1890 from the largest field ever, thirty nine starters. Any more than twenty four starters is now considered too dangerous. Carbine also carried the heaviest weight on record, 10 st 5 lb (65.7kg).

The story that Archer walked from Nowra, New South Wales, to Melbourne and then won the Cup is only a story. It seems to have started as a good pub yarn, but was later picked up by a Melbourne newspaper, probably in the Cup's centenary year. It has been reprinted many times since in books and newspapers and there was even a full-length feature film based on the tale. He is said to have walked because there was no rail link from Nowra to Melbourne at the time. In fact, there was no link from Sydney to Melbourne until a railway bridge across the Murray was opened in June 1883. Had Archer walked, he would have had to trek through the snow-covered Snowy Mountains in mid-winter. There is proof, too, that he and his stablemates Inheritor and Exeter travelled to Melbourne on the steamer City of Sydney. The trainer Etienne de Mestre and the jockey John Cutts were listed among the First Class passengers. According to the story, the stable foreman who was supposed to have 'walked' Archer the more than 500 miles to Melbourne was named Dave Power. However, no-one with that name ever worked in de Mestre's stables.

That said, there were people of that name at the time and one of these could have worked as foreman in the Halfway House Hotel stables where Archer and de Mestre stayed in Sydney. Archer did cover many miles on foot walking to country race meetings, since walking was part of de Mestre's training program. In 1859, two years before the first Cup, the SS Admella was wrecked off the South Australian-Victorian border. Her cargo included seven horses, four of them racehorses. One, The Barber, swam ashore, was recaptured and was made to walk to Geelong, where he was put on a train for Melbourne. He ran his race but was unplaced. This may have helped give rise to the Archer walking myth. Archer kept on racing, sometimes two or three times a day (which was common practice then) until August 1864, when he was injured in a fall during training. He was retired to stud on Exeter Farm, Fraidwood, where he'd been foaled, and died on 22 December 1872 from inflammation of the lungs caused by eating green barley. He was sixteen years old.

Archer is buried on Exeter Farm and has a racetrack and a bridge named after him. Basic methods of training horses haven't changed greatly. It's still a mixture of walking, track work and swimming, although some horses now use fancy walking machines that look like merry-go-rounds. They swim in special plunge pools doing a horsey version of dog paddle, but the beach still remains popular and they love sand pits. For a long time jockeys rode sitting bolt upright, not crouching forward over the saddle as they do today. John Robertson's Free Selection Act was passed in October 1861, and came into effect the following year. It enabled land seekers to secure holdings of 320 acres, as long as they paid a deposit of one quarter the land's value. If they made improvements then the land was theirs. The 'flip side' was that by opening up Crown lands for this purpose, many more Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their land. Prior to 1883 and the Victorian Married Women's Property Act, any land, houses, or livestock (such as horses) that a woman owned when she married, or remarried, automatically became the property of her husband.

In August 1861, an official search party set out from Adelaide to discover what had happened to the explorers Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills. Burke had left Melbourne the year before, leading an expedition from south to north, searching for possible pastoral land and perhaps a trade route to Asia. On 15 September, another search party set out from Melbourne to find them. The sole survivor of Burke's last desperate push north, John King, was saved by Aborigines, so he was able to show the search party where Wills was buried. Soon after, they found the body of Burke. The explorers had died at the end of June. Melbourne Cup Trivia 1. Your shout The crowd at the first Cup was a measly 4,000. Bar access was probably a lot easier, though. Having said that, the cup was run in what could be best described as a flat clearing and with little publicity. 2. Race day In 1875, the Cup was run on a Tuesday for the first time. From 1861 to 1875, the race was run on a Thursday. 3.

Backing up Just five horses have won more than one Cup. Makybe Diva (2003, 2004 & 2005), Archer (1861 and 1862), Peter Pan (1932 and 1934), Rain Lover (1968 and 1969) and Think Big (1974 and 1975). 4. Going GREY

Question: What horse race is known as 'The Race That Stops a Nation'?
Answer: MELBOURNE CUP